]]>The verdict in the case of two Reuters reporters charged under the country’s Official State Secrets Act was postponed until 3 September, with a court official telling attendees that judge Ye Lwin is sick.

Media, diplomats, NGO staff and observers had gathered en masse at Insein court to hear the verdict, which was expected today, delivered on Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28. The pair have been detained for nearly 300 days.

The replacement judge, standing in for Ye Lwin, announced the decision within minutes of his arrival.

“The judge is in poor health, so I am here to announce that the verdict is postponed to the third,” said Judge Khin Maung Maung.

Defence lawyer Khin Maing Zaw told media the verdict is ready, but can only be delivered by Ye Lwin, the judge responsible in this case.

Wa Lone was characteristically optimistic, talking to journalists before he was led away by police.

“We are not afraid or shaken. The truth is on our side. Whatever the situation is, we will not be shaken. They cannot make us weak,” he said.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Burmese staff with the Reuters bureau in Yangon, were arrested in December during their investigation into the Inn Dinn massacre in Rakhine State, in which security forces and villagers executed 10 Rohingya men and boys. The military later admitted to the killings.

The reporters testified that police handed them documents at a restaurant in Yangon shortly before arresting them.

]]>http://www.dvb.no/news/verdict-in-reuters-journalists-case-postponed-until-3-september/81322/feed28Reuters journalist says police pressured him to bury report on Inn Din massacrehttp://www.dvb.no/news/reuters-journalist-says-police-pressured-him-to-bury-report-on-inn-din-massacre/81282
http://www.dvb.no/news/reuters-journalist-says-police-pressured-him-to-bury-report-on-inn-din-massacre/81282#commentsWed, 18 Jul 2018 11:41:03 +0000/?p=81282Jailed Reuters journalist Wa Lone tells a Yangon court that during a police interrogation, which included sleep deprivation, police officers tried to induce him and his colleague Kyaw Soe Oo not to publish an investigation into a military-led massacre of 10 Muslims in Inn Din village of northern Rakhine State.

]]>Jailed Reuters journalist Wa Lone told a Yangon court on Tuesday that during a police interrogation, which included sleep deprivation, police officers tried to induce him and his colleague Kyaw Soe Oo not to publish an investigation into a military-led massacre of 10 Muslims in Inn Din village of northern Rakhine State.

The 32-year-old journalist was describing their time at the Aung Thabyay police interrogation centre in Yangon’s northern Mayangone Township in December, after he and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in what strongly resembles a police set-up.

This was the journalists’ first time testifying in the Yangon Northern District Court, though they have been detained in Yangon’s Insein Prison since their arrest. They have undergone six months of pre-trial hearings, where prosecution witnesses were presented and cross-examined. If sentenced, they face 14 years in prison.

On July 9, the judge accepted the charges against them under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly holding classified government documents relating to security deployments in northern Rakhine State, where the Burmese military has displaced close to 700,000 Rohingya Muslims into neighbouring Bangladesh in a crackdown on Rohingya militants.

Wa Lone testified that police interrogators told them that if the news agency they work for, Reuters, declined to publish their investigation into the Inn Din massacre, which took place in September, they could negotiate their early release. However, Reuters released the investigative report under the title “Massacre in Myanmar” on Feb. 8.

“I told them that I was a journalist and wrote about the incident as it happened but it was not up to me whether it would be published or not,” Wa Lone told the court.

He told the court that the Inn Din story was 80 percent complete at that time, and that they were only trying to give government officials a chance to respond to their findings.

Wa Lone said that on Dec. 14, during their detention at the Aung Thabyay centre, Police Lt-Col Myint Htwe accessed their phones and saw a photograph of the 10 Muslim men being executed in Inn Din village, a centrepiece of the Reuters investigation.

According to Wa Lone, Myint Htwe then told them that officials had been dispatched to northern Rakhine to investigate the incident and publicise their findings ahead of the release of the Reuters report.

Wa Lone also said that high-ranking police officers visited them in Insein Prison after Reuters published their report in February. They asked the journalists to verify the Reuters report.

Wa Lone said that, in two video-recorded meetings in Insein Prison, held separately with him and with Kyaw Soe Oo, “they made us read the Burmese language version of the Reuters report and asked us to sign to certify the accuracy of the report.”

“Brig-Gen Tin Ko Ko also asked us to identify the sources in our report,” Wa Lone said, but the journalists refused to do so, citing journalism ethics, and suggested the police ask the Reuters agency instead.

Wa Lone also testified that he and Kyaw Soe Oo had not tried to obtain any secret documents from the police. Rather, police officers unexpectedly handed them rolled-up documents at a pre-arranged dinner at a restaurant in northern Yangon on the night of Dec. 12, and they were arrested on leaving the restaurant before even looking at them.

In a pre-trial hearing in April, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing, a prosecution witness, blew the whistle by testifying that Brig-Gen Tin Ko Ko had ordered him and other subordinate officers to entrap the journalists in the manner described by Wa Lone. Police have denied this version of events, saying the two were arrested while walking the streets.

Wa Lone told the court he and Kyaw Soe Oo were only “doing their job, for the good of society, with no intention of betraying the country.”

]]>http://www.dvb.no/news/reuters-journalist-says-police-pressured-him-to-bury-report-on-inn-din-massacre/81282/feed455Court to prosecute Reuters journalists in controversial ‘official secrets’ casehttp://www.dvb.no/news/court-to-prosecute-reuters-journalists-in-controversial-official-secrets-case/81195
http://www.dvb.no/news/court-to-prosecute-reuters-journalists-in-controversial-official-secrets-case/81195#commentsMon, 09 Jul 2018 04:12:51 +0000/?p=81195A Yangon court will proceed with prosecuting two Reuters journalists accused of violating Burma’s Official Secrets Act, a ruling that will heighten concerns of press freedom advocates who see the case as a seminal indicator of progress in a country long-known for censorship and antagonism toward the Fourth Estate.

]]>A Yangon court will proceed with prosecuting two Reuters journalists accused of violating Burma’s Official Secrets Act, a ruling that is likely to heighten the concerns of press freedom advocates who see the case as a seminal indicator of their cause’s progress in a country long-known for its censorship and antagonistic stance toward the Fourth Estate.

The accused men, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were detained by Burmese authorities on Dec. 12. They face up to 14 years in prison if found guilty under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, and pleaded not guilty following the ruling of Ye Lwin, the presiding magistrate, on Monday.

The drawn-out trial has been criticised by press freedom advocates both in Burma and abroad as Reuters has insisted that the two men were arrested simply for doing their jobs.

They were detained in December as they were reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslims in the village of Inn Din, Rakhine State, earlier that year, in which Burmese state security forces were implicated. Reuters subsequently published a lengthy report on the massacre, and seven soldiers were sentenced to 10 years in prisonfor their role in the killings, according to the military.

“At this critical juncture, we hope that the court will decline to charge Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and order their prompt release,” Stephen J. Adler, Reuters’ president and editor-in-chief, said in a statement released last week, prior to Monday’s ruling to proceed with prosecuting them.

Pre-trial hearings have included testimony from a rogue witness for the prosecution who said the Reuters duo were entrapped, and claims that there was nothing “secret” about the documents entered into evidence on the prosecution’s behalf. Perceptions that a miscarriage of justice was at hand were prevalent even prior to Monday’s decision, which will likely only cement those concerns.

“We are deeply disappointed that the court declined to end this protracted and baseless proceeding against Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo,” Adler said following the ruling.

“These Reuters journalists were doing their jobs in an independent and impartial way, and there are no facts or evidence to suggest that they’ve done anything wrong or broken any law. They should be released and reunited with their families, friends, and colleagues. Today’s decision casts serious doubt on Myanmar’s commitment to press freedom and the rule of law.”

]]>http://www.dvb.no/news/court-to-prosecute-reuters-journalists-in-controversial-official-secrets-case/81195/feed292Judge to decide next week on continuing trial against Reuters journalistshttp://www.dvb.no/news/judge-to-decide-next-week-on-continuing-trial-against-reuters-journalists/81169
http://www.dvb.no/news/judge-to-decide-next-week-on-continuing-trial-against-reuters-journalists/81169#commentsTue, 03 Jul 2018 03:21:19 +0000/?p=81169A judge in Burma says he will decide next week whether to proceed with prosecution or bring an end to the high-profile trial of two Reuters journalists who have been accused of possessing state secrets.

]]>A judge in Burma said Monday that he would decide next week whether to proceed with prosecution or bring an end to the high-profile trial of two Reuters journalists who have been accused of possessing state secrets.

Both sides’ lawyers gave arguments at a hearing in Yangon on Monday and lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Naing told the court that the Reuters reporters’ trial should continue, alleging that they were proven to have been found in possession of secret government documents when police arrested them last year on the outskirts of the commercial capital.

Kyaw Min Naing said the offending materials included the trip schedule of Pope Francis, who visited Burma in November. The pontiff’s itinerary and several other documents were found on the accused men’s phones at the time of their arrest, the lead prosecutor said, arguing that this put them in violation of Burma’s colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

A lawyer for the defendants, Khin Maung Zaw, told reporters after Monday’s hearing that the trip schedule of Pope Francis was not a secret document, and had in fact been published on The Vatican’s official website.

The accused Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were detained by Burmese authorities on Dec. 12. They face up to 14 years in prison if found guilty under the Official Secrets Act.

The drawn-out trial has been criticised by press freedom advocates both in Burma and abroad as Reuters has insisted that the two men were arrested simply for doing their jobs.

They were detained in December as they were reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslims in the village of Inn Din, Rakhine State, earlier that year, in which Burmese state security forces were implicated. Reuters subsequently published a lengthy report on the massacre, and seven soldiers were sentenced to 10 years in prisonfor their role in the killings, according to the military.

“At this critical juncture, we hope that the court will decline to charge Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and order their prompt release,” Stephen J. Adler, Reuters’ president and editor-in-chief, said in a statement on Monday.

“Freedom of the press is essential in any democracy, and to charge Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo under these circumstances, without any proof of their having done anything unlawful, would seriously undermine Myanmar’s constitutional guarantee of free speech. We remain optimistic that the court will thoroughly consider the evidence before it and bring this proceeding to a close as quickly as possible.”

Among the controversies that have surrounded the case was testimony given by one witness for the prosecution, a police officer involved in the Reuters reporters’ arrest who apparently veered off script in April when he told the court that the two men were entrapped by authorities.

“We hope for the best thing [at next week’s hearing], and we are prepared for the worst,” Khin Maung Zaw said on Monday.

]]>http://www.dvb.no/news/judge-to-decide-next-week-on-continuing-trial-against-reuters-journalists/81169/feed462Officer in Reuters case broke police code by copying statements, lawyer sayshttp://www.dvb.no/news/officer-in-reuters-case-broke-police-code-by-copying-statements-lawyer-says/81069
http://www.dvb.no/news/officer-in-reuters-case-broke-police-code-by-copying-statements-lawyer-says/81069#commentsMon, 18 Jun 2018 15:01:56 +0000/?p=81069A police witness in the case against two Reuters reporters accused of possessing state secrets in Burma is “unreliable,” the reporters’ lawyer said on Monday, because he obtained testimony from previous witnesses, in violation of police code.

]]>A police witness in the case against two Reuters reporters accused of possessing state secrets in Burma is “unreliable,” the reporters’ lawyer said on Monday, because he obtained testimony from previous witnesses, in violation of police code.

Prosecution witness Police Major Tin Win Maung, a senior officer involved in the inquiry into the journalists, told the court he had applied for copies of statements made by all other witnesses.

The court in Yangon is set to hear arguments from both sides on July 2 on whether Wa Lone, 32, and his Reuters colleague Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

The pre-trial hearings, which have been going on since January, drew to a close on Monday as the prosecution presented its last witness.

During cross-examination, Tin Win Maung said he had copied the statements because “he wanted to know more about the case” as an investigating officer.

Defence lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said the police officer’s actions were not illegal but violated a clause from the Myanmar Police Manual, a set of rules governing police behaviour.

“He is not reliable because he has breached those police regulations,” the lawyer told Reuters after the proceedings.

“The would-be witness must not know what the previous witness has testified because he will prepare himself according to the statements of the previous witnesses,” he said.

The code says when an officer is a witness in a case, “he will not be present in the court while the inquiry or trial is proceeding,” otherwise the magistrate may object to his evidence “on the ground that he has heard all that the other witnesses have said, and will naturally adapt the details of his narrative to theirs.”

Prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung declined to comment.

Police spokesman Myo Thu Soe did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Burmese government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment after Monday’s hearing. Previously, he has said Burma’s courts were independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.

At the time of their arrest in December, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Burma’s Rakhine State. The killings took place during a military crackdown that UN agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

On Monday, defence lawyers said the prosecution had failed to establish how the alleged documents had come into the reporters’ possession.

“In the law, in the Official Secrets Act, it is said that these documents, those official secret documents, must be obtained,” Khin Maung Zaw said. “They cannot prove that they were obtained.”

In April, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing testified that a senior officer had ordered his subordinates to plant secret documents on Wa Lone to “trap” the reporter.

After his court appearance, Moe Yan Naing was sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline and his family was evicted from police housing. Police have said the eviction and his sentencing were not related to his testimony.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Wa Lone said he was hopeful that “fortunate things” might happen at the next hearing.

“I completely believe the truth will come out,” he said.

Press freedom and human rights activists around the world have rallied on behalf of the imprisoned reporters, with the United Nations and several Western countries calling for their release.

Diplomats from Germany, Australia and the United States, observed the proceedings on Monday.

]]>http://www.dvb.no/news/officer-in-reuters-case-broke-police-code-by-copying-statements-lawyer-says/81069/feed708Police witness no-show as Reuters reporters mark six months in detentionhttp://www.dvb.no/news/police-witness-no-show-as-reuters-reporters-mark-six-months-in-detention/81057
http://www.dvb.no/news/police-witness-no-show-as-reuters-reporters-mark-six-months-in-detention/81057#commentsThu, 14 Jun 2018 07:43:38 +0000/?p=81057A police witness did not turn up to court on Tuesday in the ongoing case against two Reuters reporters.

]]> A Burmese police investigator failed to show up at court on Tuesday to testify as a prosecution witness against two Reuters reporters who were arrested in December and accused of possessing secret government papers.

Police Captain Myo Lwin, one of the officers who escorted the two journalists to the courthouse, said the key police witness Major Tin Win Maung was not present because the officer was “investigating two cases” in central Burma.

The police major conducted the inquiry after the journalists were arrested on 12 December. They have now spent six months in detention.

“Six months is too long, but we are not depressed … They can’t destroy us,” reporter Wa Lone told reporters after the proceedings were swiftly adjourned. “I will always be a journalist.”

In what has become a landmark press freedom case, the court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 32, and his Reuters colleague Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Judge Ye Lwin adjourned the hearing until Monday, when he again summoned Major Tin Win Maung to appear.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay told Reuters by phone that Burmese courts were independent and the case would be conducted according to the law. He said the two reporters were being treated fairly and their rights were protected.

In an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK last week, Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi said the two reporters “were arrested because they broke the Official Secret Act.”

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“We cannot say now whether they were guilty or not. That will be up to judiciary,” Aung San Suu Kyi was quoted as saying.

At the time of their arrest, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Burma’s Arakan State. The killings took place during a military crackdown that United Nations agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Rangoon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

Global advocates for press freedom, human rights activists, as well the United Nations and several Western countries, have called for the release of the Reuters journalists.

“Six months in jail for reporting the truth. Today, I reiterate the EU’s appeal for their immediate release,” Kristian Schmidt, the European Union’s representative in Rangoon, said in a Twitter message.

]]>Two Reuters reporters accused in Burma of possessing secret documents were subjected to sleep deprivation and asked if they were “spies” during police interrogations, their lawyers suggested during questions posed to a police witness on Monday.

Cross-examining Police Captain Myint Lwin at a court in Rangoon, defence lawyer Than Zaw Aung asked if he was aware the two reporters were “not allowed to sleep” for three consecutive days during the initial police probe after their detention on 12 December.

He also asked the witness whether reporter Kway Soe Oo was “forced to kneel down” on the floor for more than three hours during questioning by investigators.

In what has become a landmark press freedom case, the court in Rangoon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, and his Reuters colleague Wa Lone, 32, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. The alleged offences carry a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Captain Myint Lwin, the officer in charge of the Rangoon police station that conducted the preliminary inquiry after the pair were arrested, denied the reporters were deprived of sleep or made to kneel, saying officers were not allowed to “do such a thing” under his command.

He also denied, under cross-examination, that the reporters were sent to a specialist interrogation facility after their arrests, saying they were detained at the police station in northern Yangon until his team finalised the preliminary probe and handed the case to a police crime investigation unit on 26 December.

After the hearing, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo confirmed details of their treatment, telling reporters they had been questioned every two hours for about three days after their arrests by different officers, who asked if they were “spies”.

Wa Lone said it was “completely untrue” that they had remained in a regular police station.

“It is mental and physical torture,” a second defence lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters after Monday’s proceedings, adding that evidence gathered through such methods was unlawful and should not be presented to the court.

Prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung declined to comment at the end of the hearing.

Police spokesman Myo Thu Soe, contacted by telephone, said he was not aware of the matter and declined to comment.

Burma’s government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment after Monday’s hearing. Previously, he has declined to comment on the case or the conduct of the investigation, saying Burma’s courts are independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.

“DEEPLY CONCERNED”

Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler said in a statement the news agency had long been deeply concerned about how the reporters were treated during their interrogation.

“No one, including Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, should be subject to mistreatment of the kind they describe,” he said.

“It is for this reason, and many others, that we hope the court will bring this matter to an end as swiftly as possible, and restore the press’s confidence in its ability to work safely and responsibly in Myanmar.”

At the time of their arrest, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Burma’s Arakan State. The killings took place during a military crackdown that United Nations agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

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The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Rangoon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

After the hearing, Kyaw Soe Oo, in handcuffs, told reporters that he was made to kneel on the floor for “three to four hours” when he refused to give the address of a hotel where he had been staying in Rangoon or divulge details of the Reuters investigation.

Global advocates for press freedom, human rights activists, as well the United Nations and several Western countries, have called for the release of the Reuters journalists.

On Monday, diplomats from the European Union and France – as well as others – observed the proceedings.

]]>http://www.dvb.no/news/reuters-reporters-not-allowed-to-sleep-during-police-detention/81045/feed299Defense lawyers say documents from Reuters reporters’ phones ‘not secret’http://www.dvb.no/news/defense-lawyers-say-documents-from-reuters-reporters-phones-not-secret/81024
http://www.dvb.no/news/defense-lawyers-say-documents-from-reuters-reporters-phones-not-secret/81024#commentsTue, 05 Jun 2018 09:57:16 +0000/?p=81024Defence lawyers for detained Reuters journalists argued on Tuesday that information found on their phones was already public by the time they were arrested.

]]>Documents Burmese police say they found on the mobile phones of two Reuters reporters accused of possessing state secrets were not confidential, defence lawyers said on Tuesday, because the information was publicly available before they were arrested.

Judge Ye Lwin accepted as evidence copies of newspaper articles the defence said showed the information in the documents had already been published. A police witness had previously told the court that the documents they found on the devices included confidential government letters and plans.

In what has become a landmark press freedom case, the court in Rangoon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Defence lawyer Than Zaw Aung told the court the contents of the “top secret documents” police have said were extracted from their phones were detailed in state-run and local newspapers before their arrests on 12 December, and so the information was “already known by the public”.

The documents included government letters regarding Burma’sVice President Myint Swe’s visit to the western state of Arakan and plans for the development of an island off its west coast for tourism.

In response, Major Aung Kyaw San, a police IT expert called by the prosecution, told the court that he was not aware of the news articles because he does not read newspapers.

He also said the reporters should not possess such documents “without permission from related government authorities” regardless of whether they had been made public or not.

Prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung declined to comment after Tuesday’s hearing.

Burmese government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment. When contacted previously he has said Burmese courts were independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.

REUTERS STORY

At the time of their arrest, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in the village of Inn Din in Arakan State. The killings took place during a military crackdown that United Nations agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Rangoon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

On Tuesday, Judge Ye Lwin accepted as evidence the Reuters article about the killing, published on 8 February, a move the defence said would help shed light on the motive behind the reporters’ arrests.

“The court accepted the Inn Din story as evidence,” Wa Lone told reporters after Tuesday’s proceedings. “The truth of what we did can be revealed soon.”

Last month, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing testified that a senior officer had ordered his subordinates to plant secret documents on Wa Lone to “trap” the reporter.

At a news conference on 15 May, Police Director General Aung Win Oo dismissed that testimony as untruthful.

After his court appearance, Moe Yan Naing was sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline and his family was evicted from police housing. Police have said the eviction and his sentencing were not related to his testimony.

Global advocates for press freedom, human rights activists, as well the United Nations and several Western countries, have called for the release of the Reuters journalists.

]]>http://www.dvb.no/news/defense-lawyers-say-documents-from-reuters-reporters-phones-not-secret/81024/feed55Defence says Burmese police withheld key evidence in Reuters trialhttp://www.dvb.no/news/defence-says-burmese-police-withheld-evidence-from-reuters-reporters-phones/81012
http://www.dvb.no/news/defence-says-burmese-police-withheld-evidence-from-reuters-reporters-phones/81012#commentsTue, 05 Jun 2018 05:48:11 +0000/?p=81012Defence lawyers say data that could support the case of two Reuters in a landmark press freedom case was missing from evidence submitted by the prosecution on Monday.

]]>Data that could support the defence of two Reuters reporters accused of possessing secret documents in Burma was missing from police phone evidence submitted to a court by prosecutors, their lawyers said on Monday.

Defence lawyer Than Zaw Aung said some key files, including communications records from the reporters’ phones before their arrests on 12 December, were not included in a report of the data police say they found on the devices that was accepted as evidence by the court last month.

He requested the court to direct the prosecution to submit further details, arguing the additional files would help reveal “truth and justice”.

Judge Ye Lwin rejected the defence request, saying further details were not necessary because a police IT expert has previously demonstrated how the files were extracted “systematically” from the reporters’ phones.

In what has become a landmark press freedom case, the court in Rangoon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung told the court the phones’ call logs were not relevant to the documents that police say they found on the devices. He did not elaborate. Those documents included allegedly confidential government letters and plans for the development of an island off Burma’s west coast for tourism.

A second defence lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters after Monday’s proceedings that the defence believed “evidence which is beneficial to the defence has not been fully disclosed by the prosecution”.

Kyaw Min Aung declined to comment.

Burma’s government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment. Previously, he has declined to discuss details of the proceedings or the police investigation, saying Burma’s courts were independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.

The next hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday.

PHONE RECORDS

At the time of their arrest, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Burma’s Arakan State. The killings took place during a military crackdown that United Nations agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Rangoon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

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Whether Wa Lone was called by police to set up a meeting or rang them himself in the hours before the reporters were arrested has been a contested point at previous hearings.

Defence lawyers have previously said phone records show one of the police officers, Naing Lin, called Wa Lone three times on the day the pair were arrested.

Prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung told the court on Monday that Naing Lin had insisted during his testimony that he did not call Wa Lone on 12 December, but that the reporter had called him to initiate a meeting. “It’s the defence’s responsibility to prove otherwise.” he said.

Last month, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing testified that a senior officer had ordered Naing Lin to arrange a meeting with Wa Lone and give him secret documents on to “trap” the reporter. Naing Lin denied that when he testified last month.

After his court appearance, Moe Yan Naing was sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline and his family was evicted from police housing. Police have said the eviction and his sentencing were not related to his testimony.

]]>http://www.dvb.no/news/defence-says-burmese-police-withheld-evidence-from-reuters-reporters-phones/81012/feed393Defence attorney says evidence from Reuters reporters’ phones may be ‘tainted’http://www.dvb.no/news/defence-attorney-says-evidence-from-reuters-reporters-phones-may-be-tainted/81004
http://www.dvb.no/news/defence-attorney-says-evidence-from-reuters-reporters-phones-may-be-tainted/81004#commentsWed, 30 May 2018 06:06:38 +0000/?p=81004Evidence Burmese police say they obtained from the mobile phones of two Reuters reporters accused of possessing secret documents might be “tainted,” a defence lawyer said on Tuesday, because at least one phone was used after it was confiscated.

]]>Evidence Burmese police say they obtained from the mobile phones of two Reuters reporters accused of possessing secret documents might be “tainted,” a defence lawyer said on Tuesday, because at least one phone was used after it was confiscated.

A WhatsApp message was sent from the mobile phone of journalist Wa Lone after he and Reuters colleague Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested on Dec. 12 and held incommunicado on suspicion of violating the Official Secrets Act, the defence told the court.

Prosecution witness Police Major Aung Kyaw San, who said he and other police had examined the phones, told the court he was not aware of the exchange on WhatsApp and did not know who else used the phones before their delivery to investigators on Dec. 14.

In what has become a landmark press freedom case, the court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Defence lawyer Than Zaw Aung said the one-word text message — “OK” — was sent via WhatsApp in reply to a question from Reuters’ bureau chief in Burma at about 10 p.m., after Wa Lone’s phone was taken from him by police shortly after the two reporters were arrested around 9:10 p.m.

“That means anyone could have access to the phones, so anything could happen to the phones,” a second defence lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters after Tuesday’s proceedings. “All those messages they said were found in the phones may not be genuine or the phones may be tainted.”

Lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung declined to comment.

Burmese government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment. Previously, he has declined to discuss details of the proceedings or the police investigation, saying Burma’s courts were independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.

Judge Ye Lwin last week accepted as evidence printed copies of documents that Major Aung Kyaw San, a police IT expert, said were found on the reporters’ phones. The documents included alleged confidential government letters and plans for the development of an island off Burma’s west coast for tourism.

Some of the documents came from the Facebook Messenger app, the defence has said. Defence lawyers say this means the documents could have been sent by anyone and it was not clear the reporters themselves had even looked at them.

At the time of their arrest, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Burma’s Rakhine State.

The killings took place during a military crackdown that United Nations agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

Last month, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing, who Burma’s Information Ministry said was arrested at the same time as the journalists in connection with the case, testified that a senior officer had ordered his subordinates to plant secret documents on Wa Lone to “trap” the reporter.

At a news conference on May 15, Police Director General Aung Win Oo dismissed the testimony as untruthful.

After his court appearance, Moe Yan Naing was sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline and his family was evicted from police housing. Police have said the eviction and his sentencing were not related to his testimony.

Global advocates for press freedom, human rights activists, as well the United Nations and several Western countries, have called for the release of the Reuters journalists.

On Tuesday, diplomats from Denmark and the European Union — as well as others — observed the proceedings.